Family Part II
by BlameItOnTheNaquadah
Summary: What's in a name? The Jackson's enjoy a late night discussion about their choice of name for their newborn baby. Possibly not the Jackson's that you were thinking of, though. Warning - includes graphic use of a sink plunger.


**FAMILY - PART II**

 **Or - What's In A Name?**

Daniel moved almost silently up the stairs towards his bedroom.

Sam had headed off home a few minutes ago – he grinned when he remembered her excited face as the two old friends' had bid each other goodnight.

"You want me to call Jack?" she had asked in a low tone as they stood at the front door.

Daniel had shaken his head. "Already done," he told her. "They had a bet on apparently. Jack's won – again!"

Laughing, Sam stretched on tip-toe to peck her friend on the cheek. "Then I'll see you all tomorrow, I guess! Sweet dreams." And with that she had strolled off towards her car.

Alone in his home Daniel had hurriedly tidied away the worst of any visible debris that he could see and shoved the dirty washing from the bag he carried into the already overflowing machine. An assortment of plates, cups and cutlery stood waiting in line by the dishwasher – he loaded up the appliance and set the cycle going.

Feeling a little hungry Daniel munched a banana and swigged down a bottle of chilled water – _I must be tired_ , he thought, _if I can't even be bothered to hang around and make coffee!_ He patted the percolator briefly before heading out of the kitchen and onwards towards the upper level.

A dim light shone from one of the room's on his left and another through the open door of his own bedchamber. Entering wearily he stopped suddenly on the threshold.

"Daddy!" A small voice hissed excitedly, as a diminutive figure dressed in a Cinderella outfit wriggled out from under the bed covers and began to bounce up and down on the bed. She wore a quiver full of plastic arrows on her back and waved what appeared to be a sink plunger from the kitchen. Her raven-black curls sprang wildly in disarray as she bounced, giggling.

"You're meant to be asleep," Daniel told her, grinning. He scooped her up mid-bounce and held her close against himself, rocking gently.

"I'm not asleep though," his daughter whispered. "I'm awake."

"Clearly." Daniel leaned away from her slightly. "And – ah – who are we today?"

"Ninja Cinderella," the tot replied promptly. "And this is my thing that sterminays people." She waved the plunger gleefully.

"It what?" Conscious that his glasses were in close range, Daniel deftly removed the weapon and tossed it aside.

"Sterminays. Dead-ed's them."

"You mean exterminates?" He laughed out loud.

"That is what I said, Daddy." Small rosy lips pulled down into a pout and dark brows lowered. The minion's storm-cloud eyes were hard to see in the darkness but from experience her long suffering father could tell that she was glaring at him.

"If you'd put the name 'Daniel' in there instead of 'Daddy' you'd have sounded just like Mamma, you know that?" He kissed the top of his daughter's tousled, dusky head.

"Is my Mamma coming home now?" Eyes opening wide, the tiny ninja bit her lip and looked over his shoulder. "Is Mamma here?"

"Nope." Daniel shook his head. Sitting carefully on the bed he manoeuvred himself and the little girl along the mattress and up to the headboard where he relaxed at last, tiredly, amongst the pillows. "Mamma will be home tomorrow."

"Promise?"

"I promise." He kissed his daughter again, on her cheek. "Your baby sister is only…" checking his watch, Daniel counted under his breath. "….three hours old! Mamma has to stay at the Mountain tonight. Aunty Carolyn says so."

"At the magic Mountain?"

"Yep."

A shadow moved just outside the door – moments later a tiny boy dressed in a teddy bear onesie toddled into the room, rubbing his round blue eyes sleepily.

"Hey, little guy." Loosening one arm from around Cinderella, Daniel hauled his son up onto the bed beside them. "Did we wake you? You okay?"

"Ess." The wee boy yawned widely and scrambled onto his father's knee.

Daniel tugged back the hood of the onesie, revealing a shock of rather sweaty, very black short hair. "You want a drink of water?"

"No fenk-oo." He paused. "Air izz Mamma?"

"Mamma is staying with Aunty Carolyn at the magic Mountain tonight," his sister informed him excitedly. "And we has got a new baby! Mamma got it from the magic Mountain."

"Not – exactly," Daniel chuckled dryly, "but close enough."

"Mamma come-d from the magic Mountain," frowned the miniature version of Vala.

"Uh – yessss… kind of," Sensing he may be on the losing side in this conversation, Daniel changed the subject. "Do you want to know what your baby sister is called?"

"Umm." The teddy nestled deep into his father's lap, yawning widely again. He had grabbed hold of the Exterminating Sink Plunger and was examining it interestedly.

"Is that a yes?" Daniel smoothed a gentle hand across the little boy's forehead.

"Umm." The teddy bear nodded.

"Okay." Daniel felt his heart squeezing with a sweet tender ache as he beheld the two little Jackson's before him. He had to clear his throat before he spoke. "Well…"

"We has names that mean things," his first born reminded him. She too was snuggled in against her father, the quiver of plastic arrows now slightly askew.

"Yes you do." Smiling gently, Daniel tapped her nose. "Your name is Ariel Samantha. You are called Ariel because one – Mamma loves Disney and two – the Little Mermaid fell in love with a man from another world and gave up everything to live with him there. Which is kind of what happened when your Mother and I first met. And you are also named Samantha, after Aunty Samantha, because she was Mamma's first girlfriend here on Earth."

Ariel smiled and cocked her head to one side, an exact replica of Vala. Daniel kissed his little daughter swiftly on one rosy cheek. "And you," he continued, glancing down at the dozy toddler who was also crammed into his lap, "you are called Nathan Daniel. Because Nathan is a shortened version of Jonathan, which is Uncle Jack's full name, and Daniel – well, that's after me."

Nathan Daniel's little eyelids had fluttered shut, long dark lashes spread on his cheeks, tiny rosebud mouth puckered. His Dad lay the toddler carefully down, covering him with one of the fleecy blankets on the bed. Ariel tugged at her father's shoulder repeatedly until he had finished his ministrations. "What is our baby called, Daddy? What is our baby's name? Is it special too?"

"Of course." Daniel could feel his own eyelids drooping, and he wriggled further down into the pillows. "Her name is … it's …" he paused to clear his throat, suddenly tearing up. The new child's name was particularly special.

Ariel, watching carefully, wrapped her small arms around his neck and cuddled in.

Daniel took a deep breath and composed himself. "Her name is Sarina Claire. Sarina, after Mamma's Mamma, and Claire after my Mamma. She's called after both of your grandmother's."

"We hasn't got them." Ariel frowned. "We hasn't got grandmothers. Harrison has got them."

"He has indeed!" Daniel chuckled. Carolyn and Mitchell's son had two lovely grandmothers. And grandfathers. He tickled his daughter's chin gently. "Both of your grandmothers' died a long time ago. I was only a little boy when my mother died." He paused briefly. "And Mamma wasn't much older." He had known Vala for a long time before she told him what her mother's name had been.

" _It hurt too much before,"_ was all she had said.

"Sarina Claire." Ariel rolled the name around interestedly. "That is a nice name, Daddy. I like that name."

"Well, I'm glad that you approve," Daniel informed her.

"And Mamma – we will see her tomorrow?" Yawning, the little girl tossed the sink plunger aside and tried to wrestle herself away from the quiver.

"If I know your mother she'll be calling here about 6am, telling me to come and get her!" Daniel assisted with the extrication of his daughter, the quiver ending up on the floor alongside the sink plunger.

Ariel crawled under the blankets of the bed.

"You're staying, I take it?" Giving in to the inevitable, Daniel resigned himself to an interesting night, sharing a bed with a princess and a teddy bear. He made himself comfortable, eyes closed and was just drifting asleep when a small, sleepy voice spoke out of the darkness.

"There is more of us than there is of you," Ariel told him, and Daniel could have sworn she was smiling. "There is three of us girls and only two boys now."

"Yep." He sighed theatrically. "And you know what that means?"

There was no answer. As if proving a point, Ariel Samantha had fallen asleep.

"Give up now, Jackson." Thinking that he might be the happiest man in the world at that precise moment, Daniel tucked his hands behind his head and shut his eyes again. "It means that I'm _never_ going to win an argument for at least the next twenty years!"

 **The End**


End file.
